Growth of Nationalism Flashcards
What is nationalism?
Nationalism is the feeling of oneness and common conscienceness that emerges when people living in a common territory share the same historical, politiical and cultural background, have the same cultural values, and consider themselves as one nation
How did the concept of ‘Nationalism’ originate/develop?
4 point
The birth of national awakening in India took place in the second half of 19th century due to:
* The socio-religious reform movements in India
* The concept of nationalism and right of self-determination initiated by the french
* As an outcome of modernisation introduced by the british
* As a reaction of indians to the British colonial policies
When did nationalism develop in India?
second half of 19th century
Why was nationalism lacking before the British arrival?
2 point
- Before the british, India was never 1 nation but instead it was many different kingdoms.
- Even at times when most of the subcontinent was under the rule of 1 empire, the loyalty of the people was towards a particular king or kingdom.
Fill in the blanks
The Establishment of the Indian National Congress in _ _ _ _ marked the formal beginning of the organised national movement in India
1885
What were the factors leading to Growth of nationalism?
- Economic Exploitation
- Repressive Colonial Policies
- Socio-Religious Reform Movements
- Role of Press
Which sections of society were affected by the british policy of economic exploitation?
- Peasants
- Artisans and Craftsmen
- The working class
- The educated Indians
(all sections of society)
How were peasant, craftsmen and artisans affected by british exploitative policies?
Peasant [3]; craftsmen and artisans [4]
-
Peasants: were main victims of british colonial policy
* The government took away most of their produce in the form of land revenue and other taxes.
* This lead them into the clutches of ladlords and moneylenders. -
Artisans&Craftsmen: The british economic policies were against Indian trade and industry.
* The British East India Company used its political power to destroy Indian handicraft and industry.
* India became a source of raw materials and a market for their finished goods.
* This ruined the artisans as they were stripped of their livelihood
Artisan and craftsmen points come under “Reasons for industrial stagnation”
How were the working class and the educated indians affected by the british exploitative policies?
3 each
-
The Working Class: The rise of modern industries gave birth to a new social class ‘the working class’.
* They were exploited by the factory owners who were generally englishmen
* Although they were a small part of the population, they represented a new social outlook that covered the whole country’s interest and outlook. -
Educated Indians: The only employment available for them was government service.
* The competition for it was high and chance for promotion was bleak.
* They hoped that british capitalism would help develop india’s productive force but it was keeping India economically backward.
State the repressive policies of Lord Lytton and when they were applied.
5 point
- Grand Delhi Durbar (1877)
- Vernacular Press Act & the Indian Arms Act (1878)
- Decreased age limit from 21 to 19 for Civil Service examinations
- Import duties on British textiles removed
- C.P. Ilbert’s “Ilbert Bill” in 1883
Explain
- Grand Delhi Darbar
- Vernacular Press Act
- Indian Arms Act
- Grand Delhi Darbar: was held by lord lytton in 1877 to proclaim Queen Victoria as the Empress of India and spent lakhs on the event while nothing was done for the Indians who were suffering from a famine
- Vernacular Press Act(1878) forbade vernacular papers from publishing any material that may incite feelings of dissatisfaction in the British Government
- Indian Arms Act(1878) made it a criminal offence for Indians to carry arms without licence
Explain the Ilbert Bill and why it was abolished.
4 point
- Sir C.P. Ilbert, a law member of the viceroy’s council, prepared the Ilbert Bill in 1883 which Provided for the trial of british and european people by Indians
- It was done to inntroduce equality between British and Indian judges.
- It was resented by Europeans who started a Defense Association to defend their special privileges due to which it was withdrawn
- This Incident highlights the racial attitude of the british and indians realised they could not expect justice if european interests were involved
Who repealed the Vernacular Press Act and when?
Lord Ripon repealed it in 1882
How did modernisation help in growth of nationalism
4 point
- Western Education led people to approach life in a humanistic, scientific and rational manner
- They realised they need to reform their religion and society
- And the path to progess was in them accepting best of the east and west.
- This gave birth to socio-religious reform movements touching every segment of indian society.
What issues did the socio-religious reform movements work for
4 each
- Social Sphere: it worked for the abolition of caste system, sati, child marriage, dowry system, infanticide.
- Religious sphere: it combated religious superstitions, attacked idolatry, polytheism and hereditary priesthood
Name 2 Religious reformers.
- Raja Rammohan Roy
- Jyotiba Phule
What were Raja Rammohan Roy’s humanistic ideas?
Or what was his approach to religion?
- He was great humanist who stressed on unity of all religions
- He was against Polytheism and wanted people to worship a single god
- He was against the worship of idols and meaningless religious rituals
- He laid emphasis on prayer, meditation, charity, morality and strengthening the bonds between men of all religions
What were some of Raja Rammohan’s works?
- He wrote the “Gift to Monotheists” in 1809 in Persian in which wrote against polytheism and about worship of a single god.
- He started the “Atmiya Sabha” in 1814 and carried a persistant struggle against idol worship
- He founded the “Brahmo Samaj” in 1828 which believed in monotheism
- Due to his efforts against sati and polygamy, William Bentinck passed a law making sati illegal iin 1829
How did Rammohan contribute to social reforms
- He condemned the rigid caste system
- He campaigned against sati and condemnded polygamy, child marriage and purdah system
- due to his efforts, gorveror-general of india (William bentinck) passed a law making sati illegal
- He was an advocate for women’s right and the right for widows to remarry
- He demanded that women be given the right to inheritance and property
Who was the pioneer of indian journalism and how?
Raja rammohan was the pioneer of indian journalism
* He brought about several journals in different languages to spread scientific, literary and political opinions on current topics.
* he used journals to represent popular demands and grievances to the British government
* He started a bengal weekly ‘Samwad Kaumudi’ and a persian paper called ‘Mirat-ul-Akhbar’
How did rammohan contribute to political rights
- He started agitations to demand for political and other rights
- He demanded abolition of the East India Company’s trading rights and the heavy export duties on indian goods.
- He demanded separation of judiciary and executive, trial by jury, and judicial equality between Indians and Europeans
Jyotiba Phule’s contributions.
- Started First girls school(1851) in pune with his wife Savitribai Phule
- 1854 started school for untouchables and a private orphanage for widows
- Wrote the book “Gulamgiri in which he described the hardships of the lower caste and called the caste structure in India the epitome of slavery.
- He started the “Satya Shodhak Samaj”(1873) to secure social justice for weaker section of society.
How did socio-religious movements help growth of nationalism?
- Swami Vivekananda and Swami Dayanand proclaimed indian culture and civilization to be superior
- Reformers condemned the caste system and untouchability and the idea of equality ad brotherhood attracted the lower caste
- Reformers taught people not to ignore the importance of women as they could participate in the national movement too.
- They were against the british domination in india. Swami dayanand used ‘swaraj’ for the first time and raised the slogan ‘India for the Indians’
- The socio-religious movements created conscienceness for a new society without any privilage based on caste or religion
What was the role of press in rise of nationalism?
- Helped spread messages of patriotism and modern liberal ideas like equality, liberty, freedom, independence
- Carried criticism of the unjust policies of the british government and exposed the true nature of its rule.
- It helped exchange views between different social grps in different parts of the country and organise political movements
- Helped indians understand what was happening in the world. helped them understand the political and social development happening in the world
